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ancient astronauts

The term 'ancient astronauts' designates the speculative notion that aliens are
responsible for the most ancient civilizations on earth. The most notorious proponent of
this idea is Erich von Däniken, author of several popular books on the subject. His Chariots
of the Gods? Unsolved Mysteries of the Past, for example, is a sweeping attack on the
memories and abilities of ancient peoples. Von Däniken claims that the myths, arts,
social organizations, etc., of ancient cultures were introduced by astronauts from another
world. He questions not just the capacity for memory, but the capacity for culture and
civilization itself, in ancient peoples. Prehistoric humans did not develop their own arts
and technologies, but rather were taught art and science by visitors from outer space.

Where is the proof for von Däniken's claims? Some of it was fraudulent. For example,
he produced photographs of pottery that he claimed had been found in an
archaeological dig. The pottery depicts flying saucers and was said to have been dated
from Biblical times. However, investigators from Nova (the fine public-television
science program) found the potter who had made the allegedly ancient pots. They confronted
von Däniken with evidence of his fraud. His reply was that his deception was justified
because some people would only believe if they saw proof ("The Case of
the Ancient Astronauts," first aired 3/8/78, done in conjunction with
BBC's Horizon and Peter Spry-Leverton)!

Most of von Däniken's evidence is in the form of specious and fallacious
arguments, but the idea for his claims may have come from the Cthulhu Mythos series of science fiction horror stories by H. P. Lovecraft. (See "Charioteer of the Gods: H.P. Lovecraft and the Invention of Ancient Astronauts" by Jason Colavito.) Von Däniken's data consists mainly of archaeological sites and ancient myths. He begins
with the ancient astronaut assumption and then forces all data to fit the idea. For
example, in Nazca, Peru, he explains giant animal
drawings in the desert as an ancient alien airport. The
likelihood that these drawings related to the natives' religion or science is not
considered. He also frequently reverts to false dilemma reasoning of the following type:
"Either this data is to be explained by assuming these primitive idiots did
this themselves or we must accept the more plausible notion that they got help
from extremely advanced peoples who must have come from other planets where such
technologies as anti-gravity devices had been invented." His devotion to this theory
has not dwindled, despite contrary evidence, as is evidenced by still another book on the
subject, Arrival of the Gods : Revealing the Alien Landing Sites at Nazca (1998).

There have been many critics of von Däniken's notions, but Ronald Story stands out as
the most thorough. Most critics of von Däniken's theory point out that prehistoric
peoples were not the helpless, incompetent, forgetful savages he makes them out to be.
(They must have at least been intelligent enough to understand the language and teachings
of their celestial instructors--no small feat!) It is true that we still do not know how
the ancients accomplished some of their more astounding physical and technological feats.
We still wonder how the ancient Egyptians raised giant obelisks in the desert and how
stone age men and women moved huge cut stones and placed them in position in dolmens and
passage graves. We are amazed by the giant carved heads on Easter Island and wonder why
they were done, who did them, and why they abandoned the place. We may someday have the
answers to our questions, but they are most likely to come from scientific investigation
not pseudoscientific speculation. For example, observing contemporary stone age peoples in
Papua New Guinea, where huge stones are still found on top of tombs, has taught us how the
ancients may have accomplished the same thing with little more than ropes of organic
material, wooden levers and shovels, a little ingenuity and a good deal of human strength.
Nova's "Secrets
of Lost Empires" made no appeal to alien teachers in the attempt to
figure out how the ancient Egyptians might have raised a giant
obelisk, how
the medieval warriors built their
catapults
and how & why the sculptors of
Easter Island
did what they did.

We have no reason to believe our ancient ancestors' memories were so much worse than
our own that they could not remember these alien visitations well enough to preserve an
accurate account of them. There is little evidence to support the notion that ancient
myths and religious stories are the distorted and imperfect recollection of ancient
astronauts recorded by ancient priests. The evidence to the contrary--that prehistoric or
'primitive' peoples were (and are) quite intelligent and resourceful--is
overwhelming.

Of course, it is possible that visitors from outer space did land on earth a few
thousand years ago and communicate with our ancestors. But it seems more likely that
prehistoric peoples themselves were responsible for their own art, technology and culture.
Why concoct such an explanation as von Däniken's? To do so may increase the mystery and
romance of one's theory, but it also makes it less reasonable, especially when one's
theory seems inconsistent with what we already know about the world. And why
restrict one's examples to Egypt, Mexico, and other non-European countries?
What about the builders of Newgrange or Stonehenge? The ancient astronaut
hypothesis is unnecessary. Occam's razor should be applied
and the hypothesis rejected.